First published 2011
Agatha Raisin arrives in Winter Parva with her colleague Toni to enjoy the Cotswolds village's festive hog roast celebration. The traditional event marks the start of winter holiday festivities, and the two women look forward to joining the merriment. Toni works alongside Agatha in the detective business, though their relationship mixes friendship with professional rivalry. When villagers gather around the fire to watch the roasted pig being carried toward the glowing charcoal bed, the cheerful atmosphere suddenly shifts. Agatha notices something deeply wrong with the scene unfolding before her. The entire village shares her growing alarm as they realize the celebration has taken an unexpected and disturbing turn. What should have been a joyful community gathering becomes something far more sinister, pulling Agatha into another mystery in the picturesque but deceptively dangerous countryside she knows so well.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, cozy, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family
Setting: Winter Parva, Cotswolds
Period: winter, holiday
292 pages · Hardcover · Minotaur Books